Loose leaf book



Sept. 17, 1935. H. B. STONE 2,014,994

LOOSE LEAF BOOK xmmon m? m 2" Howard B. Stone 'some of the parts aremoved when the clamping Patented Sept.'17, 1935 UNITED STATES PATENTOFFICE LOOSE LEAF BOOK Howard Britten Stone, Croydon, EnglandApplication June 24, 1933, Serial No. 677,492

In Great Britain July 6, 1932 9 Claims.

-' holding relative positions by a spring or springs.

According to this invention each clamping bar of hollow construction hassheet aligning posts extending perpendicularly therefrom and mounted soas to be slidable along the bar in the longitudinal direction of thebar. In addition, sheet aligning posts may be provided in fixedpositions. The sheet aligning posts are of the usual construction eachcomprising parts slidable one within the other.

The slidable sheet aligning posts can be carried on sliders guidedwithin the hollow clamping bars, the slider in each clamping bar havingattached thereto one end of a cord which after passing through a hollowsheet aligning post is fixed at its opposite end to a slider in theopposite clamping bar.' The sliders are thus connected in pairs. Inanalternative arrangement a separate cord is provided for each slider,the opposite end of the cord being, for example, secured to a convenientpart of the opposite clamping bar to that in which the slider ismovable.

In the accompanying drawing:

Figure 1 is a view of clamping bars in accordance with this invention intheir sheet holding relative positions, and

Figure 2 shows a section on the line 2-2, Figure 1.

Figures 3 and 4 are views respectively similar to Figures 1 and 2showing the positions to, which bars are moved to positions furtherapart than in Figure 1 in order to release the sheets.

Figure 5 is a diagram illustrating the manner in which sheets or leavesare held between the clamping bars.

Figure 6 is a detail section taken on the line 66 of Figure 1, and

Figure '7 is a view similar to Figure 2, illustrating a modifiedarrangement of the sliders and cords whereby the sliders are moved.

' As shown in this drawing, the clamping bars are of hollow constructioncomprising an inner wall or plate a and an outer wall or plate bofcurved cross section with flanged or channeled edges which can beslid onto the plate a. longitudinally,'for convenience of construction,allowing parts hereinafter described to be assembled with the innerwalls or plates and the assembly completed'b'y putting the outer wallsor plates 1) in position on the inner walls or plates.

Each plate a has hollow or tubular sheet aligning posts c rigidlyattached thereto, the posts of one plate being slidable withincorresponding posts attached to the opposite plate. Springs 11 extendingthrough the tubular posts 0 and con- 5..

cealed therein have their opposite ends anchored by cross bars e, thetension of the springs being sufficient to draw the clamping barstogether with a force capable of holding the sheets or leaves introducedbetween the said clamping bars 10 clamping bar. The posts J are movablein longitudinal slots h in the plates a, each of the posts carried byone slider being slidable in or on a corresponding post carried by theother slider.

Springs 2' passing through the posts I are an- 20 chored to the slidersg by cross bars 7' and supplement the springs d. Springs is are intension between their attachment to the sliders and their attachment tohooks l on the plates (1., to move the sliders in the same direction,each towards a cor- 25 responding end of its path of movement, that isto say, into the position in which the sheet aligning and locking post 7carried thereby is operative as a sheet locking means. The paths ofmovement of the sliders are limited by the engage- 39 ment of the posts7 with the end walls of the slots h which thus serve as abutments forarresting movement of the sliders.

, A separate cord m is attached to the end of each slider remote fromthe springs k and passed 35 through one pair of posts 0, blocks nwithround-' ed ends being provided to minimize wear at the places where thedirection of the cord is changed on emerging from within the said posts.The

opposite ends 121. of said cords m are secured by 40 fastenings m toplates at. In this way, each cord m is secured to a slider in oneclamping bar and to the plate a. of the other clamping bar.

When the clamping bars are close together, that is to say, when they arein the sheet holding positions, the sliders g are drawn to one end oftheir respective paths of movement by the springs 7c and at such timesthe cord or cords m, are slack, as shown in Figures 1 and 2. These cordsare preferably made of a relatively inextensible 0 material such aswire. When the clamping bars are moved farther apart, as shown inFigures 3 and 4, the reach of the cord within the posts 0 is lengthenedand the reach at the end of a cord attached to a slider is shortenedsothat the spring is is stretched and the slider moved to a new position,the posts moving in the slots h. When the clamping bars are drawntogether by the springs d, i the cords are slackened so that the springscan retract the sliders Q.

As shown in the drawing, the ends of the cords m are threaded throughholes in the sliders g and are prevented from being drawn entirely outof the holes by knots in the cord or other enlargements. The cords, asshown in Figure l, are of a convenient length to allow the bars to bemoved some distance apart without effecting movement of the slidersagainst the action of the springs.

In the arrangement shown in Figure 7, two sliders g each carrying a post1' are drawn one towards the other by a spring 7c. The sliders g withtheir posts are drawn apart by cords m the ends of each cord beingattached to sliders in opposite clamping bars by means of the cordsbeing threaded through holes in the lugs m of the sliders and havingenlargements at the ends to prevent the cords from being drawn entirelyout of the holes. As the posts 1 are moved in opposite directions slotsin the sheet to be held thereby corresponding to the slot q areappropriately arranged to allow such movement.

Sheets 0 for use with the clamping bars and the aligning and lockingposts in accordance 'with this invention, are provided with straightslots p to engage on the posts 0 and angular slots q to engage on theposts I, as shown in Figure 5. When the clamping bars are drawn apart asin Figures 3 and 4, the posts 1 occupy the positions shown in full linesand the slots p, q can be placed on the posts 0 and f by a slidingmovement of the sheet 0. When the clamping bars move one towards theother to grip the sheets, the posts 1 are moved by the springs k to thepositions shown in broken lines, the said posts I moving into the partsof the angular slots parallel to the edge of the sheets and the edges ofthe slots abutting against the posts 1 thus afford a further means forretaining the sheets between the clamping bars.

The clamping bars may be moved apart against the action of the springsd, i by suitable lever mechanism comprising jaws for engaging the innersides of the clamping bars, or the latter may have holes therein toreceive pins project-.

ing from a suitable tool or implement for effecting a separation of theclamping bars against the action of the springs to a sufiicient distanceto release the sheets from the clamping action of the bars or to permitthe introduction of new sheets. 7

ll claim:

1. Mechanism for gripping and holding the loose sheets of loose-leafbooks, comprising hollow clamping bars, plates, respectively, slidablelongitudinally one within each hollow bar, hollow sheet aligning andlocking posts carried by the said slidable plates and extending betweenand movable longitudinally of the clamping bars to lock the loose sheetsin their held positions, and springs for moving the clamping bars to andholding them in their sheet holding positions, said springs beingconcealed within the sheet aligning posts.

2. Mechanism for gripping and holding the loose sheets of loose-leafbooks, comprising clamping bars, sheet aligning posts extending betweenand secured directly to the clamping bars, sheet aligning and lockingposts extending between and movable longitudinally of the bars,

plates carrying the said sheet aligning and looking posts and mounted inand slidable longitudinally of each clamping bar, springs for urgingcorresponding ends of corresponding plates in opposite clamping bars inthe same direction, and cords connecting the plates in one clamping barwith the plates in the other clamping bar, said cords passing throughthe sheet aligning posts secured directly to the clamping bars.

3. Mechanism for gripping and holding the loose sheets of loose-leafbooks, comprising clamping bars, sheet aligning posts extending betweenand secured directly to the clamping bars, sheet aligning and lockingposts extending between and movable longitudinally of the bars, platescarrying the said aligning and locking posts, one of said plates beingmounted in and slidable longitudinally of each clamping bar, springs forurging corresponding ends of the corresponding plates in oppositeclamping bars in the same direction, cord attaching fastenings in eachclamping bar, and cords each connecting' a slidable plate in oneclamping bar to a cord attaching fastening within the opposite clampingbar, said cords passing through the sheet aligning posts secureddirectly to the clamping bars.

4. Mechanism for gripping and holding the loose sheets of loose-leafbooks, comprising clamping bars, sheet aligning posts extending betweenand secured directly to the clamping bars, sheet aligning and lockingposts extending between and movable longitudinally of the bars,

plates carrying the said aligning and locking posts and mounted in andslidable longitudinally of each clamping bar, springs for urgingcorresponding ends of corresponding plates in opposite clamping bars inthe same direction, cords connecting the slidable plates in one clampingbar with the plates in the other clamping bar, said cords passingthrough the sheet aligning posts secured directly to the clamping bars,and wear blocks provided to support the cord or cords at parts where thedirection of the same changes.

5. A loose-leaf book comprising clamping bars, sliders movablelongitudinally of the clamping bars, sheet aligning posts on saidsliders, cord attaching fastenings in each clamping bar and cordsrespectively secured at one end to a corresponding slider carried by oneclamping bar and secured at the other end to the fastening carried inthe other clamping bar.

6. A loose-leaf book comprising clamping bars, sliders movablelongitudinally of the clamping bars, sheet aligning posts on saidsliders, cord attaching fastenings in each clamping bar, springs urgingthe sliders each towards one end of its path of movement, parts on thebars and sliders for limiting the movements of the sliders, and cordsrespectively secured at one end to a corresponding slider carried by oneclamping bar and secured at the other end to the fastening carried inthe other clamping bar.

'7. A loose-leaf book comprising oppositely arranged clamping bars,sheet aligning posts in pairs one slidable within the other respectivelysecured to opposite clamping bars, sliders movable longitudinally of theclamping bars, additional sheet aligning posts in pairs one slidablewithin the other respectively attached to the sliders carried byopposite clamping bars, and springs urging the sliders each towards oneend of its path of movement, and parts on the bars and sliders forlimiting the movement of the said sliders.

8. A loose-leaf book comprising oppositely arranged clamping bars, sheetaligning posts in pairs one slidable within the other respectivelysecured to opposite clamping bars, sliders movable longitudinally of theclamping bars, additional sheet aligning posts in pairs one slidablewithin the other respectively attached to the sliders carried byopposite clamping bars, springs urging the sliders each towards one endof its path of movement, parts on the bars and sliders for limiting themovement of the said sliders, and cords extending between oppositeclamping bars for moving the sliders against the action of the springs.

9. Mechanism for gripping and holding the loose sheets of loose-leafbooks, comprising clamping bars, sheet aligning posts extending betweenand secured directly to the clamping bars, sheet aligning and lockingposts extending between and movable longitudinally of the clamping bars,plates carrying the said aligning and locking posts and mounted inandslidable longitudinally of said clamping bars respectively, springs forurging the plates in opposite clamping bars in the some direction, cordattaching fastenings in each clamping bar, cords each connecting aslidable plate in one clamping bar to a cord attaching fastening withinthe opposite clamping bar, said cords passing through the firstmentioned sheet aligning posts, and wear blocks provided to support thecord or cords at parts where the direction of the same changes.

HOWARD BRITTEN STONE.

